Day 1

Middlesex Lesson Plan

Discussion of Thought Questions

1

Cal's grandmother uses folk wisdom to determine whether he will be a boy or a girl. What is Eugenides saying about such superstitions?

(5 minutes)

The dangling of a silver spoon above a woman's pregnant belly is totally unscientific. However, the spoon does correctly determine Cal's gender, better even than the hospital is able to. Though of course the situation is more complicated than the dichotomy between male and female in this case, the spoon ascertains which gender Cal eventually presents to the world. Cal's story seems to indicate that this kind of thing, which may be guided by personal intuition as much as anything, can be more accurate than the science in which his father...

Desdemona takes a silver spoon out of the box, ties a string to it, and dangles the spoon over Tessie's pregnant belly. Until now, Desdemona has gotten twenty-three out of twenty-three guesses correct, and, after a little hesitation, she declares...

I don't think Cal has a mental disorder. He is traumatized from his conflict over is sexual identity but he is articulate and understanding. At times, he might be depressed but this is understandable considering what he is going through.